


A Different Kind of Siren

by Polomonkey



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Asexuality, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance, Self-Discovery, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polomonkey/pseuds/Polomonkey
Summary: Merlin's a lonely siren who can't make a friend, as they all keep falling in lust with him. Enter Arthur, who's asexual...





	A Different Kind of Siren

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired an old tumblr post that I cannot find for the life of me about ace folk being a crew's best defence against sirens. Except I've sort of fudged siren mythology for my own floofy ends ;)
> 
> Also fills my h/c bingo square 'culture shock'

Sirens weren’t social creatures. Or rather they were, in one specific way. The only time most sirens came on land was to have sex with humans – then they retreated back to the ocean. They certainly didn’t stick around to make friends with them.

Merlin wasn’t like most sirens.

It wasn’t that he objected to sex. It was just that he didn’t seem to feel the same way about it as his siblings and siren friends did. They seemed to think of nothing else, to view each human they glimpsed on the land as their erotic prey. Whereas he tended to imagine going for a drink with one, or for a moonlit stroll, or to those fancy talking pictures they had up there.

He’d long since realised his siblings didn’t understand, and he’d learnt to hide his unusual proclivities from his siren clan. Most assumed that his regular trips to land were for seduction purposes. He hated to think what they’d say if they found out he went up looking for _friends_.

Yes, Merlin wasn’t like most sirens and he’d made his peace with that. Unfortunately for him, making a friend without them accidentally falling in lust with him was much harder than he’d anticipated.

He’d really thought Gwen would be the one. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a friend: kind, fun, creative, open. They’d take walks along the beach together, browse through the little shops on the promenade together, even sneak into the park at night and sit under the trees and talk about nothing for hours.

But then she’d grabbed hold of his hand in a moment of excitement and frozen in place, that familiar cloud of lust coming over her eyes.

“Merlin, I… I never noticed how… attractive you are.”

“Should have gone to Specsavers,” Merlin joked pathetically but it was already too late and she was clutching his hands tight, eyes darkening with intent.

“Let’s go back to my place,” she said and he couldn’t even remember the excuses he made, only that he fled the little café they were sat in and dived straight into the ocean, swimming till he reached a new town where she wouldn’t be.

He’d moped a while after that, mourning the friendship lost, before he regrouped. This time he was taking no chances. He wore gloves everywhere and he also wrapped a thick scarf around his neck. Ankles, wrists, even ears were all covered up so there could be no accidental skin to skin contact to activate the lust. Luckily it was what they called winter in the human world so his attire didn’t seem entirely abnormal.

Gwaine didn’t seem to find him abnormal anyway. He was fun in a completely different way to Gwen – loud and mischievous and constantly trying to lead Merlin astray. Merlin didn’t exactly object – he’d never been on so many impromptu adventures in his life and he returned to his cove each night blissfully exhausted from the day’s excitement.

It was all going perfectly and then Gwaine took him ice skating. Sirens were known for being graceful but Merlin had to wonder if that gene had passed him by as he wobbled his way around the rink. Luckily Gwaine was there to lead him by the hand and Merlin found himself getting the hang of it after a while. So much so that he attempted to venture forward on his own.

One spectacular crash into the wall later and he was flat on his back with Gwaine on top of him, his friend having made a valiant but entirely unsuccessful attempt to break his fall.

“Oops,” Merlin giggled but Gwaine wasn’t laughing. He looked utterly serious for once, staring down at Merlin like he’d never seen him before. Then Merlin realised that his jumper had ridden up and Gwaine’s hand was wedged under a strip of bare skin.

“I want you,” Gwaine breathed and Merlin realised with a sinking feeling it was time to make his escape again. Making said escape in ice skates added a new layer of difficulty to the whole situation, but he managed eventually. It wasn’t until he had shed his clothes and packed them away neatly in his buried chest before slipping back into the sea that he let himself grieve.

There was something wrong with him. Gwen had been beautiful and so had Gwaine but he had run in horror from the notion of becoming intimate with either of them. And he didn’t think it was due to the unfair advantage being a siren gave him. It was something much deeper than that.

Merlin didn’t want to think about it. He wouldn’t go back to the days when his siblings frowned in confusion at him, or his friends shook their head when he questioned yet again what the appeal of sex actually was. He fitted in now. It would do no good to open any doors he couldn’t close again.

 

By the time Arthur came along, it was summer, and Merlin’s hat, scarf, and gloves combo had become rather hard to justify.

“Expecting snow?” Arthur had said to him the first time they bumped into each other on the beach, and Merlin had snarked back, which had begun a rather pleasant bout of bickering. It was only when they were sat down and eating truce ice cream from Mr Whippy that Merlin realised he rather liked the prattish man. Enough to agree to let Arthur be his tour guide around town (this particular seaside resort was new to him and Arthur said he’d lived here since he was born) and then go for fish and chips with him after.

They began meeting regularly after that, when Arthur wasn’t working, and Merlin sweltered his way through many dinners and pub nights before deciding that Arthur was pretty good at keeping his hands to himself and was unlikely to make a lunge for Merlin’s neck or ears in the middle of a Wetherspoons. The hat and scarf came off but he kept the gloves on, hands were much too exposed and risky.

Arthur didn’t seem to care about the gloves. He himself had ectrodactyly on his left hand, and Merlin wondered if he thought Merlin had a similar condition. Either way Arthur never pushed it, and Merlin was grateful.

The fateful day came anyway of course, as it always did. They were walking along the pier, talking about nothing, and Merlin slipped on a piece of seaweed. He ripped his jeans at the knee but it was more his pride that was hurt until Arthur bent down to look.

“It’s just a small cut, let me just see.”

The second Arthur’s finger made contact with Merlin’s knee it was all over. And awfully enough, Merlin found he was fighting back tears. He should be used to this by now, after Gwen and Gwaine and all the others that had come before. But he had really really liked Arthur, maybe more than anyone else. And now it was ruined.

Arthur straightened up and Merlin braced himself to make his excuses.

“No harm done,” Arthur said cheerily. “Are you alright to carry on walking?”

Merlin eyed him suspiciously. Walk back to Arthur’s bedroom, no doubt…

“Where?” he said.

“Along the pier.”

Arthur was being remarkably restrained, Merlin had to admit. Usually humans were on him within seconds, clearly Arthur was in control enough to go slowly.

“And after?”

Arthur looked faintly puzzled.

“Well, we could get dinner? But you said you were going swimming tonight?”

“Er, yes. I am.”

Merlin waited for Arthur to tell him otherwise, that the only thing Merlin was doing tonight was coming home to be ravished by Arthur.

“Okay! So just to the end of the pier then.”

A strange suspicion was forming in Merlin’s mind. He hadn’t imagined the skin to skin contact, that had been all too real. So that meant…

Slowly he took off one glove.

“Uh, this is going to sound really weird but… could you touch my hand?”

Arthur looked surprised, then almost pleased.

“You want me to hold your hand, Merlin?”

“No,” Merlin said and then felt oddly guilty when Arthur’s face fell. “I mean, yes. I mean… could you just touch it first?”

Arthur gave Merlin the kind of look usually reserved for small children writing on the walls of restaurants but he reached out and touched Merlin’s hand.

Nothing. His body didn’t tense in lust. His eyes didn’t darken with desire. He didn’t so much as even wink in Merlin’s direction.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re part siren?” Merlin accused.

Arthur couldn’t be full, of course, there was definitely some human in him, but there was no other explanation. Only someone with siren blood would be able to resist a siren’s call.

“Excuse me?” Arthur said, eyebrows shooting up.

“I’m a siren, couldn’t you tell? I could have saved a lot of time wearing these,” Merlin said, pulling his other glove off and shoving it in his pocket. “I’ve been boiling for the last four months!”

“Merlin, I really don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, are you not out?” Merlin said, lowering his voice guiltily. “Sorry. I know there can be prejudice. I just want you to know that my family has always been accepting of the siren diaspora and you won’t find any full blood nonsense with us.”

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, no,” Merlin hastened to assure him. “We’re actually quite a welcoming lot-”

“Merlin, I am not a siren!”

“Well, half-”

“Or a half siren!”

Something about Arthur’s voice got through to him and Merlin had the sinking feeling he’d made yet another terrible mistake.

“You’re not?”

“No,” Arthur said firmly. “But it sounds like you are?”

_Oh dear._

 

Over two strong cups of coffee, Merlin came clean about everything. Arthur seemed to accept the existence of sirens in the world fairly well.

“I always told my dad I could see people under the water when I was little, but he never believed me.”

“Probably the Gawants, they’re an indiscreet bunch.”

Merlin looked up at Arthur from under his eyelashes.

“So you’re not alarmed?”

“No. It makes a lot of sense, actually. You never did tell me where you lived exactly. Your hair’s always wet when you meet me. And the way you speak is a bit odd-”

“Odd!” Merlin objected.

“Your slang’s just a bit outdated sometimes! And you didn’t know who Miley Cyrus was.”

“I can’t say my life has been enriched by that knowledge,” Merlin grumbled.

“Also, you kind of… smell like the ocean.”

“I smell?” Merlin said, wondering how offended he should be.

“Not in a bad way!” Arthur said, and then blushed for some reason. “In a good way. You smell… fresh.”

He looked down at his cup and then looked back up again.

“So why did you think I was part siren?”

Ah. This was going to be embarrassing.

“Normally if I have skin to skin contact with a human, they, um… they kind of want to have sex. With me. Like, immediately.”

“Really?”

“That’s why I had the hat and the gloves and all so I could stay covered up and no one would touch me by accident… you must have thought that was weird.”

Arthur waved his left hand, with the fused two fingers.

“I used to wear gloves as a teen because I was embarrassed about the ectrodactyly. Then I went to uni and learned about disability activism and chucked ‘em. But I thought you might have something similar to hide and I didn’t want to pressure you about it.”

It was as Merlin had thought.

“Well, thank you,” he said, touched by Arthur’s respect for his privacy. “I was just trying to avoid an accident. But then today, my jeans ripped and you did touch me and…”

Merlin paused because he still hadn’t figured that one out.

“And well I don’t actually know what happened today. Usually you would have… reacted like other humans.”

“I think I can explain that,” Arthur said, leaning forward. “I’m ace.”

“Well yes you have a lot of good qualities Arthur, but try to stay on topic,” Merlin frowned.

Arthur laughed then, tipping his head back.

“Not ace like that. Asexual.”

“What’s asexual?” Merlin said. He didn’t like to admit it, but he really wasn’t up on the latest slang. His English tended to get a bit rusty when he spent too much time in the sea.

“It means I don’t experience sexual attraction.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t feel sexually attracted to people,” Arthur said patiently. “Or sirens, as it turns out. I think your ‘thrall’, or whatever it is, can’t tap into my lust for you if I don’t have any.”

“Oh.”

Merlin sat back to digest this.

“Asexual,” he said, testing the word out. “Can you tell me a bit more?”

Two more cups of coffee and a slice of lemon cake later and Merlin was much the wiser.

“I think I get it. So like, if a person… or, or a siren… didn’t really find themselves wanting to have sex with people… even if they liked that person a lot and knew they were attractive and everything… they could be ace?”

“Yeah. I mean you can be ace and have sex like I said and enjoy sex, but generally if that impulse of sexual attraction isn’t there…”

Merlin felt a bit like when he used to shut his eyes and swim to the surface on sunny days, just to open them at the top and be amazed by the dazzling light in his eyes. Arthur’s words seemed to have illuminated something he’d been puzzling over for years.

“So you’re ace.”

“Yes.”

“But not arrow.”

“Aro,” Arthur gently corrected. “No. I’m homoromantic.”

Merlin nodded.

“So you date people?”

“Yes,” Arthur said. “Do you?”

“Sirens can’t date,” said Merlin automatically.

“Why not?”

And Merlin didn’t really have an answer for that.

“They just… don’t.”

“Right,” Arthur said. “So if I was to ask you on a date…?”

Merlin nearly dropped his fork in his coffee.

“You want to…”

“I like you, Merlin,” Arthur said with disarming frankness. “I think you’re funny and smart and you literally smell like an ocean breeze and I think about kissing you quite often. But if you’re not interested, we can just stay friends.”

“Kissing?” Merlin said.

He had thought about kissing too. Kissing Gwen, or Gwaine, or even Arthur if he was being honest. But the thought always made him scared, thinking of how that would inevitably lead to sex.

“We can kiss and not have sex?”

Arthur smiled.

“Of course. Or not kiss at all, if you don’t want to. There are no rules.”

“I like the idea,” Merlin said hesitantly. “Of kissing.”

He summoned up his courage.

“Of kissing you.”

Arthur’s smile spread across his face.

“Is that a yes to a date?”

“Yes,” Merlin said. “Please.”

Then he very carefully took Arthur’s hand, giddy at the thought that he could touch like this anytime he wanted, without having to run away.

 

***

 

One month later they were officially an item. Merlin had even stayed overnight at Arthur’s flat, though they just cuddled together in bed. Kissing was also on the agenda which, after some nerves on Merlin’s part, had turned out to be an entirely pleasurable enterprise.

Even Arthur meeting his siblings had gone surprisingly well. Mostly. There had been an awkward moment where he’d gone to make tea and returned to find Morgana, Mordred and Nimueh surrounding Arthur’s chair, their pretty faces twisted in unseemly confusion.

“Nothing!” Morgana said despairingly.

“His pupils aren’t even dilated,” Mordred wailed, practically sat on Arthur’s lap.

“Why don’t you want us?” Nimueh bemoaned.

“Please don’t take it personally, I’m sure you’re all lovely,” Arthur said weakly. “I just… ooh, your hand’s a little high up my thigh there, Mordred.”

“Back off!” Merlin shouted at them in Sirinese and they withdrew reluctantly, pouting like they’d just been told there was a shortage on kohl eyeliner.

After his siblings had stopped moping they’d had a rather nice time though – and the three of them seemed to give their grudging approval of Arthur as a boyfriend. They did rather hastily leave to go bar hopping when tea was done though, muttering about how they needed to get laid soon to make sure they weren’t off their game.

So all in all Merlin was very happy. The other things Arthur said about asexuality had been ticking over in his mind though, and one day he sat down on the couch and announced, rather dramatically:

“I think I might be… sex ripples.”

“Sex ripples?” Arthur said, looking confused rather than admiring.

“Yes. You know. Where you really don’t like the idea of sex at all?”

Arthur seemed to be smothering a grin.

“Ahhh, you mean sex _repulsed_.”

“That’s what I said,” Merlin replied crossly. “English isn’t my first language and it’s actually very hard to pronounce!”

“I know, baby,” Arthur said, still snickering slightly.

“Oh, laugh it up. I’d like to see you speak Sirinese.”

“Go on then,” Arthur said and they spent a frankly hilarious half hour in which Arthur tried to get the hang of the sibilant ‘s’ at the core of Sirinese and ending up sounding more like a snake with an asthma problem.

“Right, enough of that,” Arthur said at last, wiping tears from his eyes. “I can see I’ve got my work cut out.”

“We should suggest it as a language to Duolingo,” Merlin said. “Then that little owl can bully you as well as me.”

“Good plan.”

Arthur gave Merlin a sidelong look.

“So sex repulsed biromantic ace? Does that feel right?”

Merlin considered.

“Yeah. It really does.”

Then he bit his lip.

“Oh but wait, you like to have sex occasionally and I don’t want you to feel-”

Arthur held up a hand.

“Merlin, please. It’s very much take it or leave it for me, I certainly wouldn’t be missing out. And if I got the urge randomly, I can always just… take care of myself.”

“That’s a euphemism, right?” Merlin said triumphantly. “I am so good at English.”

He smiled at Arthur.

“So we’re compatible?”

“Well that depends,” Arthur said seriously. “How do you feel about premier league football?”

“Not a patch on quaartos.”

“Excuse me?”

“We play it under the sea with an inflated puffer fish and seaweed markers where you score. Much better than football.”

Merlin winked.

“But I’m willing to watch the rubbish land version with you anyway.”

“Then I think we’ll be just fine,” Arthur said generously, and pulled Merlin into a lingering kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
